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Paul Ryan greeted as hometown hero

“I just got to meet Darrell Waltrip, that was pretty cool,” Ryan said referring to the racing legend who spoke before him.

“You know what, we make five-star NASCAR bodies in Twin Lakes, Wisc., we’re real proud of that,” he continued. “I don’t mean to offend, but a lot of us where I come from are big Matt Kenseth people because he’s a Wisconsin boy too. I know everybody’s got their favorites.”

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The crowd cheered and Ryan laughed before rolling into his regular stump speech.

On Sunday, Romney didn’t even try to talk NASCAR. Instead, he gushed that a stock car had been placed on stage and decorated with his campaign logo and compared it to the cars made by the company his father George Romney once ran.

“Some personal things, I look back here at this car, I’ll tell you, you see, as a boy my dad made Ramblers, alright. I only dreamed of cars like that. To have my name on a car like that, that’s just too much,” Romney said.

Ryan also got a laugh from the crowd while going through the required thanking of local officials.

“If my cheeks look red it’s because I’ve got lipstick all over it from Virginia Foxx all over it, excuse me,” Ryan told a crowd in High Point, N.C., referring to the state’s congresswoman.

It lightened the moment as Ryan rattled off the list of local dignitaries, interjecting personal commentary about each one as he went, another benefit the congressman has after working with members of congress for more than a decade.

On the trail, Romney sometimes has trouble making connections to local business owners or dignitaries.

At a stop at the Stepto’s BBQ Shack in Evansville, Ind., last week, Romney thanked the owners who the restaurant is named after.

“I understand you’re a BBQ judge, is that right?” Romney asked owner Michael Stepto. “He’s on the circuit, he goes off doing test on other people’s BBQ, evaluating whether their up to standard or not. So we call you your honor, right?”

Stepto waved awkwardly from behind the counter as Romney continued.

“It’s good to be in your place of business, your honor,” he concluded to a smattering of polite laughter in the crowd.

Isn't it wonderful to see two AMERICANS campaigning to take our country back from the hands of the far left Marxists that have hi jacked the Democrat party? The party of JFK that was once a party of moral, conservative people that believed in hard work and opportunity and not a life of living on the government dole to buy their vote ?

This is it folks... the tipping point. if this Marxist president gets re-elected , American exceptionalism and being the land of opportunity is gone..... remember this when you vote in Nov

Well well well. The return of Roncumshot and his inability to know h-i-j-a-c-k is one word. "Marxist." "Democrat Party." Tisk tisk, Ronspermingester. Zero points for originality. What a coincidence. A match for your iq. But seriously, nobody with Ryan's salary drinks fecal matter beer like Miller, unless they're no pun intended, mugging for the camera. But there are enough farces like you out there to be taken in by the regular guy routine, that along with the voter suppression, your randist heroes may just make it borderline competitive this time.

As a few other individuals have noted, this article is wholly inaccurate. I live in Wisconsin and attended this event. Based on all of the estimates reported by local news organizations, there were at least thousands of attendees. The most recent estimate is 10,000 to 13,000 supporters. There are two potential reasons for the baseless "facts" proposed in this article. First, it may be simply lazy, inept reporting. The second possibility is that partisanship has had such an overwhelming impact on the reporter and editor that they are unwilling to admit that Wisconsin residents showed up in large numbers to support Romney/Ryan. The entire text of this article supports the latter. The reporter states the following: "Romney at times become visibly uncomfortable when trying to deliver an impromptu introduction..." This is a normative statement devoid of journalistic objectivity, which adds additional credence to the accusation that the crowd estimate was significantly lower than what had actually occurred. I really don't mind if a news organization such as Fox or MSNBC are upfront with their political predispositions. However, when a news outlet such as Politico hides behind a veneer of objectivity, and then publishes an article such as this, it is intolerable. Just admit that you are an advocacy organization that reports pertinent information for Democrats. There is nothing wrong with that.

I love how even the chick journalists go hog wild over the young guy, while trying to stick it to the old guy and make him out to be out of touch. We saw this play out in 2008 with all the boy wonders of journalism salivating over Barack Obama. Your bias is so evident, Ginger. And it's ugly. Grow up. America is, and that's why Romney will win. All the millenials in the world can't save Obama now.

Oooh, a crowd of hundreds! By the same token, I think it's safe to say that Ginger Gibson has hundreds of active brain cells.

A first-semester J-school question for Ginger: "The remark reinforced the idea that Romney is out-of-touch with the middle-class and can only relate to more wealthy people like himself." Reinforced in whom? This wouldn't be one of those sophomoric "some say" tricks where the reporter injects her prejudices into the story, would it?

Really, Politico! Don't you people have editors any more? Or editorial standards, at least?

Hundreds attended the rally in Wisconsin, Politico? Hundreds? Right. Just keep on shilling. It has surely increased your readership so far, hasn't it? The Politico is well on the way to the graveyard and have a great journey. Most of us have simply had it. Enjoy the irrelevancy.

Let's not forget to mention Mitt's speech to the Wisconsin crowd. I haven't spent a lot of time listening to him prior to the Ryan pick, as I knew his platform/ideals etc.

He was ON FIRE as he spoke to the THOUSANDS of cheering patriots. I'm not sure why everyone thinks he's bland. I didn't see bland. I saw a man fighting for the survival of our nation, and one doing it with class, ferocity and humor.